Brilliant tutorial for this excellent track bringing this genre back under the spotlights again.
Solid workflow & very well explained audio processing & choices as well as valuable background information about real gears choices & usage at the time. Explaining the musical components/elements of such tracks was also very informative & interesting.
Thanks for clarifying why you choose to normalize all tracks before exporting BTW, that was indeed not very clear to all in some previous tutorials.
Very pleased to see you using the PolyM Soft-Synth from Xils-Lab, it’s really a gorgeous sounding emulation of the Poly-Moog. You should check their emulation of the EMS VCS3 & a never released EMS VSC4 (Xils 3 & Xils 4 Plugins). I really wish Sonic Academy could make some tutorials on Xils-Lab products, they sound terrific.
And finally, since you asked to be corrected if wrong, no, the original TR-808 percussive sound was indeed named after “Maracas” & not “Cabasa”, I think there was a “Cabasa” sound on the TR-727 drum machine.
Hi KRASNV - that particular setting is from Mastering Engineer Stephen Smiths custom collection of Ultralinear presets for UAD Studer. He has chosen the flattest possible reponses across the freq range for each tape type/speed. It allows you to use the Studer for its more subtle glueing and saturation rather than emphasising certain frequencies. So I would choose as flat/neutral settings/tape choice as possible with the J37 - although this being a vintage Abbey Road piece it possible its more charactful by nature. I have the J37 - I have mainly used it as a tape delay actually - but I’ll try and spend some time with it and try it in the same way I use the Studer. I’ll try and report back! Thx for your interest.
@KirkDegiorgio
Thank you! I also have Elektron’s Analogue Heat, which also has saturation mode. If you have experience in using it could you please share, I will appreciate it very much. (ps Everytime I come to Propaganda Moscow I like to see your name on the poster in the hall (“ACT VI” release poster)).
Awesome tutorial, especially when Kirk goes over his process for mastering, tape emulation, and mixdown… this definitely changed the way I’m doing things moving forward.
This is my first Sonic Academy course I’m doing and I couldn’t choose one better. I’m halfway through, but I learned so much in such small time. Lots of inspiring tips here and there!
ive been consumin Sonic Academy’s courses for 6 months now and my skills have leveled up drastically, recently had a release of a a track on a German Techno label, I dont even know the label but Im moving forward and Sonic Academy has been a cornerstone. Thank you guys. Sending you love from Chihuahua Mexico.